


Work To Be Done

by Awesome_Sauce432



Category: A Crown of Candy - Fandom, Dimension 20 (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Episode 9 spoilers, Gen, Grief, Hurt/No Comfort, Immediately At The End Of The Episode, Mourning, Post Episode 9, everyone makes an appearance - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:09:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24658891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Awesome_Sauce432/pseuds/Awesome_Sauce432
Summary: Rope Trick lasts for one hour.In the extra-dimensional space it created, the only sounds Liam could hear were his breathing. Only his breathing. Surrounding him was an empty void, the ground beneath him firm and solid but appearing invisible.He needed to move.[Set Immediately After The End Of Episode 9 And Everything That Entails]
Relationships: Jet Rocks & Everyone, Jet Rocks & Ruby Rocks, Liam Wilhelmina Jawbreaker & Jet Rocks
Comments: 10
Kudos: 38





	Work To Be Done

Rope Trick lasts for one hour. 

In the extra-dimensional space it created, the only sounds Liam could hear were his breathing. Only his breathing. Surrounding him was an empty void, the ground beneath him firm and solid but appearing invisible. 

Held in his arms from where he’d dragged her into the tiny pocket of safety, Jet’s body was still warm. 

One hour. He could stay in this pocket for one hour, and no one would be able to find him, and then he could emerge, hopefully into safety. 

A few weeks ago, that’s probably what he would’ve done. But Ruby was still out there, grievously injured. Queen Caramelinda had been set up for an ambush. Ciabatta and who knew how many other Ceresian spies had infiltrated Candia. 

He couldn’t hide. He couldn’t stay. He had to get Jet back to her family. They’d had to leave Lapin and Preston, he couldn’t leave Jet. 

Inhaling sharply, trying not to think about how there should’ve been two sets of it, he fumbled for the small opening to the pocket dimension, dropping his head out of it. Ciabatta’s three stooges were gone but Ciabatta remained, scouring the attic as if looking for where Liam and Ruby could have possibly hidden, just in case they were still there. 

Feeling relatively safe in his near-invisibility and pocket dimension up near the ceiling, Liam watched Ciabatta turn over boxes and slashing water daggers at empty air. He saw him walk over to the spot where Jet had fallen, crouching down and carefully looking at the bloodstains, which pooled in a couple of places before disappearing entirely, and Liam saw him frown, trying to figure out a puzzle he only had a few of the pieces to. 

Finally, he left, closing the attic behind him. Liam waited two more minutes before sliding out of the pocket dimension, dragging Jet’s body with him, wishing he were strong enough to carry her with something akin to dignity. 

He laid her out on the ground at first, checking all the attic windows he could find for any sign of Ciabatta still lingering around, before cracking the doorway to the attic open. In the first sign of something resembling luck he’d had all day, it was empty. 

After carefully hoisting Jet over his shoulder, wielding his crossbow in one hand, he made his way out of the attic, tip-toeing down the stairs. It took him a moment to locate the back door, and as soon as he opened it he heard a distant scream.

Freezing instantly, the blood draining from his face, Liam’s head swivelled towards the castle. 

Shouting. Screaming. A battle was taking place. Right where Ruby would’ve been heading. 

Liam took off into the alleyways of Dulcington, never stopping or hesitating for a moment, only looking at anyone he passed by long enough to check whether they had a weapon or not, whether they had the blood of one of the princesses of Candia on their hands or not. 

Breaking into the woods gave him only a slight moment of reprieve and relief because he couldn’t stop yet. Still, he felt like he could move faster, could afford to holster his crossbow for a minute or two so that he could make sure Jet didn’t slide off his shoulder, running parallel to the edge of the forest but about thirty feet deep, deep enough that hopefully, no one on the outside would spot him, but close enough that he wouldn’t lose his way.

Eventually, he reached the moat, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to stick to the forest any longer. The screams and shouts were louder now, and some familiar, distinct. Liam was fairly certain it had only been about fifteen minutes since fighting had broken out in the attic, and the battle here was already thinning, hopefully in the Candian’s favour. 

He heard Amethar roaring over the din and Liam knew that he  _ knew,  _ and that realisation sent a shiver down his spine. It wasn’t a vengeful, energised roar of someone who had just found out, who was ready for revenge. It was heartbroken. 

Liam couldn’t stay on the sidelines. He had to help. Eyes flickering around nervously, he made sure he was alone before finding a large, withered old peppermint tree, parts of its roots bursting out of the ground, creating striped ridges. As gently as he could, Liam laid Jet out in between two of those ridges, Flickorice still strapped to her side. She hadn’t even gotten a chance to fight back. 

Hands shaking, Liam crouched by Jet’s side for a moment, his breath hitching.

“I’ll come back. Once Ruby and Amethar and everyone is safe, I’ll come back and get you.” He whispered a tiny prayer to the spirits of the forest to watch over her, to make sure no one else found her, and then he left.

Battles were quick. They always were. This one was drawn out on account of how convoluted it was, the way Candians had to figure out who among them were trustworthy, the way the traitors would conceal themselves until they saw an opportunity, the way they’d flee through the castle in search of a target or just to cause confusion. But it still wasn’t long before it too ended.

Liam jumped in just in time to help a little, to group up with Amethar, at least, who was by far the largest spectacle of it all and the easiest to locate. 

When the final visible enemy dropped, Amethar did too, to his knees, riddled with crossbow bolts and one noticeably watery wound still dripping blood in his back, letting out a cry of anguish that echoed in Liam’s heart. 

Liam crouched down, all the platitudes he could come up with empty and hollow in the face of grief he was barely beginning to feel again. “I’m sorry- I’m sorry, she-” 

Amethar glanced up, and Liam could see him looking him over, taking in the blood on his hands, on his clothes, the distinct lack of injuries on himself. Somehow, somehow, Liam had gotten through this entire mess unharmed. 

Tears had been welling in Liam’s eyes since Ruby had fled the attic, but only now did they spill over. “I tried. I tried to save her.” I failed to save her. Please, I’m so sorry, I was the only one who could have done it and I failed. 

Amethar sucked in a deep breath, pulling himself back up to his feet, one hand heavy with grief falling on Liam’s shoulder. “Come on. It’s not safe.” 

They found Cumulous and Theo combing through the halls, searching for any remaining threats.

“King Amethar! Prince Liam!” Theo let out a visible sigh of relief when he saw them, looking relatively healthy himself, Cumulous sporting a few injuries but still standing strong. “Thank goodness. Where are the princesses?”

Liam nearly choked on his own breath, and Amethar stared at Theo in stony silence, the gummy bear seeming to all at once notice the tear tracks, the bloodstains, his face falling.

“Oh god-”

“I told Ruby to hide,” Amethar said, letting Theo connect the dots on his own what that implied. “Where’s Calroy?”

“He…” Theo’s voice had gone hollow and quiet, Cumulous standing solemnly behind him. “He was fighting the Queen. I helped her defend herself- and he ran. I think he escaped the castle.” 

Amethar growled under his breath. “Coward.” Then he pivoted and began storming up through the castle, the rest of them following.

“Liam-” Theo put a hand on Liam’s shoulder, and he couldn’t help but flinch, the guard’s stricken face softening, his voice a whisper so Amethar wouldn’t hear. “I’m sorry, Liam. But- is Jet-”

Liam nodded quickly, trying to wipe away his tears and immediately realising that he was likely only spreading Jet’s blood on his face. “It was Ciabatta, he was there, in the attic of that shop-”

“The shop- you left the castle? Why?” 

Liam stared at Theo, the tears beginning anew. Why? Why had they ever left the castle? Because they were stupid teenagers, all of them. Because they’d gone through four fights and two deaths and believed they knew what they were doing now. Because they’d found a letter and not even a war could temper curiosity. 

He couldn’t give Theo an answer. 

They opened the doors to the dining hall and found Queen Caramelinda surrounded by dead bodies and a few Candian guards, standing tall with a furious and determined expression, hands glowing with the remnants of magic. Amethar stepped forward, his shoulders stiff. 

“We’ll find Ruby,” Theo said somberly, guiding Liam away, Cumulous following them.

They were out of the dining hall quickly, but Liam still heard Caramelinda’s grief-stricken cry a few moments later. 

It only took a couple more minutes before Cumulous spotted Yak flying outside the castle windows, calling him to them and following him up to Ruby and Jet’s room. He tapped his beak on a section of wall on what must have been Jet’s side of the room, and then it cracked open, revealing a secret cupboard, a still-bleeding Ruby sitting on the ground, one hand curled tight over stab wounds in her stomach, the other holding the heart necklace that matched Jet’s with a white-knuckled grip. 

Theo helped her out of the hiding place, her injuries so severe that it took a few tries for her to answer when he asked her where the worst pain was. Or perhaps she too was too busy replaying those few quick seconds in the attic to hear. 

Liam felt like he was floating. When Preston had died, he had been distraught. He hadn’t cried that many tears ever in his life, and even today didn’t come close to that. But now he felt empty. Like Preston’s and Lapin’s deaths had carved something out of him, and now Jet’s had just made the hole bigger. He could only imagine what Ruby was feeling. Or Amethar, or Caramelinda. 

Castle Candy wasn’t safe anymore, and they all knew it. They had to flee, and the Great Stone Candy Mountains was the only place left they could think of. Theo gathered up what few trusted soldiers they had left to secure transport and a safe path. Most of the Rocks family stayed hidden in a secret chamber, tending to Ruby’s wounds.

Liam took Cumulous to the forest to pick up Jet’s body and bring it back. 

Strategically, it wasn’t a smart thing to do when time was of such importance, when there were so few of them they could trust. But they weren’t leaving her behind. 

Ruby and Caramelinda both burst into tears again when they saw her, hugging her close, Amethar with one arm wrapped tightly around Ruby, the other stroking Jet’s hair over and over, murmuring something that only his daughters and wife could hear.

Liam hung back, felt Theo’s steady hand on his shoulder, knew he was grieving as much as the rest of them.

“I tried to save her.” He whispered. As if trying mattered in war. In war, you either did it… or you failed. 

“I know. You tried your best.” Theo said regardless, his voice wavering. Eventually, all the blood would be washed off Liam’s hands, but he knew he’d still feel it. The same way he still felt Preston’s snout nuzzling into his legs and heard Lapin’s sarcastic quips in his ears. 

“I saw… one of Amethar’s sisters. Rococoa. She came when Jet-” He inhaled a shuddering breath, feeling Theo looking at him. “She said her work wasn’t over yet. That there’s more work to do.” 

“You saw her?” 

Liam nodded, his vision spotty with tears. “Jet was excited. Said the adventure doesn’t end.” 

Theo looked at him for a long moment, before looking back to the Rocks family cradling the body of their fallen daughter. “Perhaps it doesn’t.” 

They went to the crypts, a final risk before their flight. There were already spaces prepared for Amethar, for Caramelinda, for Ruby and for Jet, names inscribed with dates of birth and a blank space for the date of death. Theo carved in the date himself, the Rocks’ all said a few words through tears, all of them promising not to let Jet’s death be in vain, to make sure that Candia would not fall, and that one day they would return and give her the memorial a princess deserved. 

Liam was sure he said some things too. About how brave Jet had been, how sorry he was that he hadn’t been able to help her hold long enough for aid that he inwardly knew he would’ve been hard-pressed to find anyway. It was a blur. 

That night he found himself sitting next to Ruby at a campfire, everyone else silently staring into the flames or keeping watch on their surroundings. Ruby was still badly wounded, her worst injuries bandaged and cared for as best they could, but by all accounts, she should have fallen asleep hours ago from sheer exhaustion. The heart necklace hadn’t left her hand once. 

Liam could understand. He shuffled a little closer to Ruby, trying not to look at the blood that stained both of them. 

“She said you made the right choice.” Liam’s voice felt raspy, even though he’d barely spoken since the battle. The weight of being the only one to witness Jet’s final moments was too heavy, and it felt like if he spoke it would all just wash over and crush him. But Jet had asked him to tell her. “You would have died too.” 

“I know,” Ruby whispered, her eyes shining, every small movement making her wince. “I know, and I know, and I  _ hate  _ it. I miss her so much already.” 

“She told me to tell you she loves you.” 

Ruby sucked in a short breath, closing her eyes and curling her heart necklace closer to her chest. After a moment, Liam hesitantly put one of his arms around her, uncertain if she’d accept the poor attempt at comfort, but she leaned into it, sniffling and resting her head on Liam’s shoulder.

The night faded, the sun rose. There was still work to be done. 

**Author's Note:**

> how we feelin gang?? huh??? how we feeling???


End file.
